Yep, you’ve been popping a Valencia filter on your selfies for an entire decade. Instagram are celebrating the milestone with the launch of a suite of new features, including a private “Stories Map”, which offers a retrospective of Stories you’ve shared over the past three years, custom app icons for your customised home screen, and two new anti-bullying features.
Our Global Head of Cultural Insights, Lore Oxford, reflected on Instagram’s achievements in The Drum: “The past 10 years have seen Instagram draw an impressive breadth of creators – it doesn’t matter if you’re a fashion student seeking information, a civil rights advocate looking for education or a wired parent looking for some homeschooling advice.”
TikTok overtakes Instagram as second most popular app for U.S. teens
2020 is definitely TikTok’s year, with a recently released Piper Sandler report on U.S. teens finding 29% of respondents chose the platform as their favourite. Snapchat still leads the pack with 34%, with Instagram the favourite of only a quarter of those surveyed. The increasing popularity of video has not gone unnoticed by Instagram, who recently unveiled Reels as a short-video option for users.
Snapchat takes on stress with two new Headspace Minis
A recent survey by Snapchat in the US found that 73% of respondents reported an increase in stress levels compared to 2019. To mark World Mental Health Day (10 October) Snapchat has launched two new six-minute guided meditations from Headspace through their relatively new Minis feature. ‘Choose Kindness’ and ‘Take on the School Year’ are the dedicated themes for each meditation.
Google adds ‘Stories’ to its search app for iOS and Android
The success of ‘Stories’ hasn’t escaped the attention of Google who have now jumped on the bandwagon. The difference? ‘Web Stories’ is focused on publisher content, allowing users to have control over monetization, hosting and sharing. Web Stories showcases some of the best visual content from the web and is currently only available in the United States, India and Brazil, with plans to extend worldwide. With the app reaching 800 million people per month, Google is making moves in transforming the way we consume and interact with news.
Facebook Portal adds support for Netflix and Zoom
Facebook is adding a number of new features and services to its family of Portal devices, including support for Netflix and Zoom. By expanding its repertoire of features, Facebook is increasing Portal’s attraction to a range of audiences, from streaming addicts to home office officials.
Non, Emily, it doesn’t work like that
While fans of Netflix’s new series Emily in Paris are enjoying the much-needed escapism of it all, and Parisians let out a collective groan in response to the trotting out of those all-too-familiar stereotypes, one real-life social media marketer has taken exception to the wild inaccuracies of Emily’s 9-to-5 and compiled them in a lengthy Twitter thread. #mindthemerde indeed.
Ones to watch
Time for a follower refresh? Twitter is making it easier for you to build your network by testing ‘Suggested Follows,’ which uses algorithms to determine which accounts may be of interest to you.
This edition of the Tune-Up is written by Dean Billman.
